Son-in-law charged with contract killing of Monaco heiress

One of the two alleged suspects into the murder of 77-year-old heiress Helene Pastor arrives at the Courthouse in Marseille, southeastern France (AFP Photo)

The son-in-law of a Monaco heiress gunned down in a Mafia-style killing has been charged with her murder paying hitmen for the brazen attack that has shaken the principality's super-rich.

Wojciech Janowski, 64, who had served as Poland's honorary consul in Monaco, is accused of masterminding last month's killing of 77-year-old Helene Pastor, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin told a news conference on Friday.

Robin said Janowski had spent 200,000 euros ($272,000) in cash and 50,000 euros worth of presents to stage the contract killing.

Robin said Janowski's motive was to "lay his hands on the inheritance" of his partner Sylvia Pastor, Helene Pastor's eldest daughter who had been initially detained in the case but then released without charges.

Robin said Sylvia Pastor felt "betrayed" when she found out about Janowski's alleged role.

"She is in a very difficult psychological state," Robin said, adding that Janowski's personal trainer had "organised" the killing.

Poland announced on Friday that Janowski had been stripped of his title of honorary consul "because of the loss of the irreproachable reputation that is essential for this role".

"In the present circumstances there can be no question of trust," the foreign ministry said in a statement, noting that the post of honorary consul "grants neither diplomatic immunity nor individual privilege".

Janowski has been in custody since Monday, when he was arrested along with 22 others by police investigating the shooting of Pastor multiple times with a sawn-off shotgun as she was leaving a hospital in the French Riviera city of Nice.

Her driver, Mohammed Darwich, 64, also died from injuries sustained in the May 6 attack.

In all, seven people have been charged over the killing and six of them remain in custody.

'Suspicious financial flows'Robin said earlier that police had identified two suspects alleged to have been hitmen hired to kill Pastor.

The two men -- a 31-year-old and a 24-year-old originally from the Comoros islands and living in Marseille's rough northern districts -- had been identified as being "present at the location of the killing".

Robin said the 24-year-old man was the shooter, while the older one served as the lookout.

They were found thanks to surveillance cameras, mobile telephone records and traces of DNA discovered in a Nice hotel where they stayed on the day of the killing.

Police are also said to be investigating "suspicious financial flows" in Janowski's accounts.

Janowski had spent 8.4 million euros in less than a year, Brice said, and withdrew 250,000 euros from an offshore account in Dubai in nine transactions between April 22 and May 4, the last one being just two days before the killing.

According to investigators, Janowski's trainer Pascal Dauriac had no previous criminal record. He is believed to have kept 50,000 euros for himself and paid out the rest for the attack.

Helene Pastor had inherited a huge real estate and construction business set up by her Italian grandfather Jean-Baptiste Pastor, a stone mason who moved to Monaco in 1880.

As the sleepy principality on the French Riviera slowly grew into a playground for the world's rich and famous, the family's fortune skyrocketed.

The real jackpot came in 1966 when Prince Rainier, whose fairytale wedding to Hollywood actress Grace Kelly helped catapult Monaco to international fame, gave permission to Helene Pastor's father Gildo to build high-rise buildings along the seafront.

Janowski heads a Monaco nanotechnology firm and an oil business, and is involved in numerous charities in the principality.

A graduate of the University of Cambridge, he settled in Monaco two decades ago after beginning a relationship with Sylvia. The two have a teenage daughter.

Sources in the close-knit community said they were shocked by the scandal.

"There is no way I can imagine he is behind this unbelievable story," said a source in the principality's diplomatic community, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Describing Janowski as "distinguished, always with a smile," the source said he had "enough wealth" not to need to think about obtaining an inheritance following Pastor's death.